They Walk (41 page)

Not good.

Vin smiles at us now, and paces the length of our little group and takes each of us as he does. On the fourth trip, one of the men stops him and hands him over Noah’s car keys. Wow, this day keeps getting better and better. This pleases the man immensely, and he takes up his pacing again as he pockets them. He comes to a stop in front of Gabe suddenly, and the man holding him forces him onto his knees. Gabe, to his credit, remains calm but doesn’t bother to hide his loathing look.

“
Let me guess, you’re the leader of your small group? You don’t seem very touch little man, and we should get one thing straight right away. If you go against me, my men will have your women killed. Understand?” He says in a voice that really sounds like Vin Diesel.

Gabe glares up at him.

The men go about tying all of our hands now and one by one we all are on our knees.

“
You want to be president, more power to you man. You should know, that your little tyrannical reign is about to have a glitch. The country is being bombed in less than a day, and if we stay here we’re all dead.”

Vin laughs, and looks to his men, who join in on his laughter. He leans over to Gabe, so that their faces are a breath apart.

“
Is that so?”

“
Yeah it is. Did you not hear the caravan of cars going through here just yesterday? What, you though some people were just grouping together in a vain escape attempt? They. Were. Fleeing.” Gabe seethes as he says this, and I swear he might have spat at Vin.

Vin stands back up straight, and gives Gabe a look of hatred. With a wave of his hand, the man holding Gabe forces him to his feet and Vin steps close to him again.

“
You should know, the faster you listen to me, the easier things will be. I don’t tolerate lies, and thieves. Clearly all the items you had on you were all taken from my territory.”

He steps back with a smile, and waves in my direction, and I realize too late that he was motioning for the man holding me. I’m back on my feet now, and I notice the man holding me hands shake. I guess not everybody follows so blindly. He doesn’t let me go though, so maybe they do. Vin walks over to me, all the while giving a scary looking smirk to Gabe.

“
I told you before, if you refuse to listen to me, your women will pay the price. Was I not clear?”

I watch as Gabe’s eyes go wide, and he and my parents struggle against their restraints. It doesn’t do any good though; Vin approaches me now and finally gives me the full effect of his seething. He takes me from the man holding me, and while gripping my tied hands together behind my back with one hand, he pulls me close.

With his free hand, he caresses my cheek, and I cringe away from him.

I don’t bother to fight or to say anything, what could I possibly do?

This man looks like the hulk next to me. I hear a loud smacking sound, my head swings to the side and only when my eyes begin to go grey, do I realize that he hit me. My body hangs limply in his arms, and as my world goes dark I don’t even feel any pain, I do hear the cries of the others though. It’s a comforting thought knowing they care.

Then there is nothing…again.

Chapter Seventy

When I open my eyes again, I know I’m dreaming again.

Either it’s just a habit now. Or maybe it’s because I’m back at the Bates courtyard behind the Library.

I’m standing just outside the window where Gabe and Hunter fell through and where I jumped. Its night and raining again, except this time I’m alone or at least I think I am. I’m walking around in the darkness, and already I can feel my skin, clothes, and hair getting soaked from the rain. I’m nearing the middle of the courtyard when I realize there is something or someone huddled on the ground. I can’t see what it is or who even, just that there is a black cloak covering it from the rain. It must not be working because it moves, as if shivering from the cold. Getting closer, I reach my hand out to it in slow motion afraid of what I’ll find.

Just as my hand grazes the wet cloth, it sits up and I finally see who it is or rather who it was.

It’s Hunter.

He looks like he did the last time I saw him, all bruised and bleeding from his fight with Gabe. Under the cloak, his dark hair is only slightly damp and his dark eyes shine in the moonlight. As he watches me intently, he shifts just a little and I see the blood that is flowing down his right arm. Following the trail, I see the big chunk of flesh that is missing from his collarbone again and I remember what happened to him.

He was bitten while fighting with Gabe, knowing this I remember what came after and I feel my bones quivering inside me. He moves closer to me, and it takes everything in me to not flinch away as he does. He is on his knees now, and is so close I could just reach out a little and touch him. He gazes up at me and looks so lost and sad, and as I watch him I see a red dot forming and widening on his forehead right between the eyes.

The spot gets so big it’s the size of a quarter and when it stops his red blood oozes from its crevice.

I watch the trail slide down his cheeks and I notice he is now crying and that his tears join in with the blood. Then a figure rises up behind him, and at first I want to warn him to move, but the figure just stands there watching us; watching me. A flash of lightning cuts through the night like a knife, and I catch the barest of glimpses at the new figure.

I gasp at what I see, because it is another Hunter.

This one isn’t hurt and bleeding, no this one is as fresh as the first time I met him. Except, rather than seeming menacing, he seems almost sad as he watches me. My chest heaves and I can’t quiet catch my breath. Guilt rushes through me for what became of him, even if he did deserve it. It makes me just the monster he was becoming.

“
You did this to me.” Both of the Hunters say, one in sadness and the other in hatred.

His voices are like a ragged whisper that tears apart my soul, and makes me want to beg for forgiveness.

I can only watch as the Hunter kneeling on the ground opens his mouth wide and growls at me. I see the change I missed a second ago, his eyes are fully dilated like one of the dead. I’m paralyzed though when he lunges for me, and we fall to the ground with him on top of me. I’m already screaming when we hit the ground, with the eyes of the other Hunter following our movements.

Just standing still and watching.

There is little I can do while he quickly lowers his mouth to my throat, and I’m helpless to saving myself and don’t bother to fight back. Just as his sharp teeth are just grazing me, I hear someone familiar call out to me. Out of nowhere, I can feel my body like I’m in another place at the same time and it doesn’t feel all that great.

My head is throbbing, and I have the sense that my limbs are convulsing. Hunter’s teeth are piercing my skin now, and with a scream of pain and with the other voices yelling to me, I wake up. Opening my eyes, the nightmare still hangs at the back of my mind and I almost expect Hunter to be standing over me and not my mother.

My mother…wait…what…how is that possible?

Aren’t we being held captive by the cast of Fast and Furious?

But low and behold, there she is and I realize that her hands on me were what was shaking me and making me feel like I was having a seizer. Seeing me, she looks so relieved, and I have to say I am right there with her. I take notice that I am laying on the floor of the gym, at the school we were taken too. I don’t hear any yelling or gun fire, so what happened? I remember Vin being an ass hat to Gabe and then he was yanking me to my feet. Oh yeah, I remember now. I have yet another headache to join in the choir, Vin punched me.

Nice guy.

Turning my head slightly and doing my best to ignore the way my body seizes on itself, I try to find where the others are. I see Gabe standing in the middle of the room over a body. He is hunched over on himself and is shaking so badly, I don’t know how he is even still standing. He has a split lip and I notice that his hands are all banged up while slowly dripping blood. His eyes are all for the body on the ground, and when he kneels onto the ground with a bang and rummages through the man’s pockets; I follow his line of sight.

I feel a twinge of pleasure, when I see that it’s Vin. He seems to be in worse shape than Gabe, and I’m definitely impressed if Gabe did that to him. He must have though, since he is on his feet still and Vin is not. I am curious as to why Gabe is picking the dudes pockets, I doubt he has money and I really think it’s useless these days. But then he sits back on his heels, and holds up a set of car keys, Noah’s car keys.

Moving past them, I search out for my father and sigh with relief when I find him.

He is just getting to his feet, and looks like he too got into a fight, and I believe it as he is getting up over a prone form. Once on his feet, he moves to where Gabe is now getting to his, and I notice for the first time that there are a couple other bodies littering the ground. It makes me happy to find that they are all the masked men that dragged us in here. Half a dozen of them with Vin, and my dad and Gabe overwhelmed them?

Nice. I snort out a laugh, and instantly regret it.

My body sings with pain, and I tense up to try to ride out the rock song as it rages through me.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on breathing and not passing out.

Though for some reason I actually don’t feel like I’m going to pass out. No ringing or roaring of my ears, no grey or black blobs, and definitely no spinning dizziness. If I had to choose, I’d swap out that crap for the pain I am in now. When I finally open my eyes after the song ends, I find that my dad and Gabe are now kneeling down beside my mom and watching me. Okay, not acting creepy or anything.

“…
what happened in here?” I say in a raspy weak voice.

My mother gently moves my hair from my face that must have fallen from my movements, not that I noticed. She looks impressed as a bright smile brightens up her face. She shares a look with the guys, and they have the decency to look embarrassed. It must be true then Gabe and my dad are badass, awesome.

“
How…” I say in the same raspy voice, what I wouldn’t give for a nice glass of ice cold water.

Don’t you just love the little things?

Gabe actually blushes now, and lowers his head so that I can’t look at him in the face. My dad chuckles and claps him on the back once, before giving me a wide grin.

“
Your boy here lost it when Captain Underpants hit you. After head butting the man holding him, he then rushed at you and the other guy.”

Really dad, Captain Underpants, how old are you? This makes my mom join in with his chuckling, and Gabe finally looks up at me with a smirk. I give him my best ‘are you serious look’ and he only nods at me. Color me impressed.

“
Then your dad and I fought with the ones holding us, while Gabe was busy with your guy. It all happened so fast and even now I don’t know how we managed it.” My mom says a little breathy.

My dad wraps his arms around her and pulls her close.

“
It’s called determination hun; these guys didn’t know anything about really working together.”

“
I suppose your right.” She replies as she leans into him with a sigh.

Watching my parents lean on one another and have such faith, I wish I could have that. When Gabe shifts a little and brings himself closer to me, I realize that I do have that. He sits down so that he isn’t leaning over me, and I see that he is worn from the fight. Well, you would be to if you just fought with Vin Diesel and won.

“
I was so terrified that I’d lose you and I just snapped. I can’t lose you Maggie, I just can’t.”

His voice is so soft, like a whisper and it wraps around me like a warm blanket in the cold of winter.

As he moves closer to me still, I slowly lift my shaking hand and gently cup his cheek. My body wages a war inside me, but it doesn’t matter. All I care about is Gabe and that I love him more than life itself. I pull him to me then and my heart swells, when his lips brush against mine. It’s a light brush of lips, and I yearn for more, but I haven’t forgotten that my parents are just a yard from us, and neither has Gabe.

“
You really need to stop scaring me like that Magdalena.” He tells me as he pulls back.

I grin up at him, and don’t even care that he used me ridiculous name, and think ‘I’m right there with you’. My body aches from head to toe, and I know I’ll be having a fresh bruise on my cheek where Vin hit me.

I’m in no hurry to get hurt again, trust me.

Gazing up at Gabe, I say the only thing I can with making promises I can’t keep.

“
I’ll try.”

Chapter Seventy One

A few minutes later when I’m in slightly less pain, my mother helps me get to my feet. I’m shaky and wobbly at best, but I don’t fall over convulsing. The day is looking up. When my mother goes about freeing my hands, I watch Gabe and my dad approach the weapons table at the back of the room. I know now that we still have a lot to do today, and getting out of this school and back to the car in one piece is only that start of it. I can feel the plastic give on the bracket, when my mom finally cuts it free with a pair of plyers she found.